Another Goodbye.

So we may have read that we found homes for the dog, the bird, and two of the cats.  John's amazingly wonderful parents consented to keep the one remaining cat, because they have huge hearts and because they could tell that it was just too much for me to say goodbye to all of them.

We got Shadow (we called her Shady) from a shelter in Carrollton, Texas about six years ago.  Shortly after adopting the first cat, I decided the first one needed a friend.  I wanted a Siamese-looking cat but one with a round head, not all pointy and over-bred looking.  So I lurked around Petfinder.com for several weeks and finally found one in a rescue shelter about 4 hours from our house.  Did I mention how much I love John, who will--without gripe or guilt--indulge my need to drive hundreds of miles in order to adopt a cat?

Shadow earned her name by being very elusive--she came from a home where I think some human abuse was going on, and she was known for hiding under beds.  She was sick with a cold when we got her, but they let us bring her home with us as long as we kept her separated until her antibiotics took effect.

Shady was a sweet wonderful cat, who would talk in little mews and beeps and who would come out after the kids had gone to bed to rub on my legs and play.  I could call her by saying "meewwwm" and she would answer. She had huge, gorgeous blue eyes and really thick fur--more like a seal skin.  She was hard to get in a photo, so I only have maybe 4 or 5 shots of her.

When we transferred her to her new home, she had seemed fine...her normal chubby, fluffy self.  She stuck close to us as we spent our last Texas nights in Pat and Bob's guest room.  Then over the course of the last couple of weeks, Pat noticed that Shady was not looking well.  She hadn't seemed to have been eating or drinking much, and Pat had been in consultation with our vet, thinking maybe she was still mourning the big life change.  Earlier this week, the cat went in for an official check, and her kidneys had totally shut down.  She was in such a state of renal failure that this must have been coming on for quite a while--months--but because she was so quiet and private, we did not notice.  The only choice was to prevent her from further suffering.

I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate what Pat and Bob have done for me by agreeing to hang on to Shady and then going through this with her.  Shady left behind some great memories and quite a few tears.

Shady exuded cattitude and frequently hissed at the dog. 
That plus big blue eyes and soft soft fur equals high rating on my kitty love scale.